She is currently being treated with drugs, and will have surgery in January. She will then receive radiotherapy.

She is currently being treated with drugs, and will have surgery in January. She will then receive radiotherapy.

It is possible she may then need chemotherapy, which can lead to serious side effects. But she said she expected to make a full recovery – and added that her life may have been saved by her decision to attend a routine screening, which picked up the disease.

Today, speaking for the first time about her cancer, Dr Jones said: “I’m very fortunate that it got caught at an early stage and it is very treatable.

“It was detected through routine screening. I was horrified to discover only 70 per cent of women in the area respond to invitations to be screened.

“If I had not attended, it wouldn’t have been picked up until much later.”

She hoped her experience would persuade other women that it was worth receiving regular breast cancer screening.

The Labour MP, aged 58, is to stand down at the next election after representing Birmingham Selly Oak since 1992.

She announced her decision before learning in September this year that she had cancer.

All women over 50 are invited to receive a breast cancer screening every three years, but not all take up the offer.

Dr Jones said some women feared that men would be present when screening took place, but in fact there were only women in the room.

Either way, she is likely still to be recovering when the nation goes to the polls next year, and most politicians are busy knocking on doors and asking voters to back their party.

“It hasn’t affected me too much,” she said. “ But it means I will be out of action somewhat, recovering, during the election period.”

The MP is being treated at Birmingham Women’s Hospital, where cancer services are managed by University Hospital Birmingham, the trust which runs the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Edgbaston, and is full of praise for the staff.

“I feel very grateful for how excellent the NHS service is,” she said. She had also benefitted from improvements to the NHS during Labour’s period in office, which had made it easier for women to receive breast cancer screening, she said.

She had no idea she might be ill when she had a mammogram to test for breast cancer.

“A few days later I received a letter asking me to come in for another mammogram, and they did a biopsy too. They told me then that I had a tumour.”

Although the hospital couldn’t immediately tell her what type of cancer it was, it was able to reassure her that it had been caught at an early stage.

“Fortunately I’m a bit of a tough old bird, but there was also a lot of support available.”

This included Macmillan Nurses, specialist cancer nurses, who were on hand to offer counselling and advice.

Dr Jones is looking forward to retirement with her husband Chris Kirk - who has himself recovered from cancer.

Mr Kirk, aged 58, was diagnosed with prostate cancer after he took part in a trial of new procedures designed to detect the disease.

He received surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital within days of being diagnosed, but then required radiotherapy too.

The couple, who have two children, eventually plan to live in Mid-Wales, where they are refurbishing a stone cottage to create an environmentally-friendly home.

But before then, Dr Jones plans to become more involved in environmental groups in Moseley, where she lives.

“I want to put the experience I gained as an MP to good use in my community,” she said.